Project description:One of the most thoroughly studied insect species, with respect to locomotion behaviour, is the stick insect Carausius morosus. Although detailed information exists on premotor networks controlling walking, surprisingly little is known about neuropeptides, which are certainly involved in motor activity generation and modulation. So far, only few neuropeptides were identified from C. morosus or related stick insects. We performed a transcriptome analysis of the central nervous system to assemble and identify 65 neuropeptide and protein hormone precursors of C. morosus, including five novel putative neuropeptide precursors without clear homology to known neuropeptide precursors of other insects (Carausius neuropeptide-like precursor 1, HanSolin, PK-like1, PK-like2, RFLamide). Using Q Exactive Orbitrap and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry, 277 peptides including 153 likely bioactive mature neuropeptides were confirmed. Peptidomics yielded a complete coverage for many of the neuropeptide propeptides and confirmed a surprisingly high number of heterozygous sequences. Few neuropeptide precursors commonly occurring in insects, including those of insect kinins and sulfakinins, could neither be found in the transcriptome data nor did peptidomics support their presence. The results of our study represent one of the most comprehensive peptidomic analyses on insects and provide the necessary input for subsequent experiments revealing neuropeptide function in greater detail.
Project description:Empirical demonstrations of feedbacks between ecology and evolution are rare. Here, we used a field experiment to test the hypothesis that avian predators impose density-dependent selection (DDS) on Timema cristinae stick insects. We transplanted wild-caught T. cristinae to wild bushes at 50 : 50 cryptic : conspicuous morph ratio and manipulated density by transplanting either 24 or 48 individuals. The frequency of the conspicuous morph was reduced by 73% in the low-density treatment, but only by 50% in the high-density treatment, supporting a hypothesis of negative DDS. Coupled with previous studies on T. cristinae, which demonstrate that maladaptive gene flow reduces population density, we support an eco-evolutionary feedback loop in this system. Furthermore, our results support the hypothesis that predator satiation is the mechanism driving DDS. We found no effects of T. cristinae density on the abundance or species richness of other arthropods. Eco-evolutionary feedbacks, driven by processes like DDS, can have implications for adaptive divergence and speciation.
Project description:Sex chromosomes have evolved repeatedly across the tree of life. As they are present in different copy numbers in males and females, they are expected to experience different selection pressures than the autosomes, with consequences including a faster rate of evolution, increased accumulation of sexually antagonistic alleles and the evolution of dosage compensation. Whether these consequences are general or linked to idiosyncrasies of specific taxa is not clear as relatively few taxa have been studied thus far. Here, we use whole-genome sequencing to identify and characterize the evolution of the X chromosome in five species of Timema stick insects with XX:X0 sex determination. The X chromosome had a similar size (approximately 12% of the genome) and gene content across all five species, suggesting that the X chromosome originated prior to the diversification of the genus. Genes on the X showed evidence of relaxed selection (elevated dN/dS) and a slower evolutionary rate (dN + dS) than genes on the autosomes, likely due to sex-biased mutation rates. Genes on the X also showed almost complete dosage compensation in somatic tissues (heads and legs), but dosage compensation was absent in the reproductive tracts. Contrary to prediction, sex-biased genes showed little enrichment on the X, suggesting that the advantage X-linkage provides to the accumulation of sexually antagonistic alleles is weak. Overall, we found the consequences of X-linkage on gene sequences and expression to be similar across Timema species, showing the characteristics of the X chromosome are surprisingly consistent over 30 million years of evolution.
| S-EPMC10087215 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Iso-seq of Timema poppense stick insect